Thursday, December 23, 2010

Thanks to you ALL for making my first year of blogging so much fun! I really do appreciate every single one of you who stops by to have a read or leave a comment. Hope you all have a Super Happy Christmas and a fab New Year! And I hope you all get some time to relax over the festive season :)
I'm looking forward to a WHOLE WEEK away at the beach with Marty and some good mates, so I'll see you all sometime after Jan 4th. Woohoo beach holiday - it's been a few years since I had one of those hehe! Lotsa Love, Bee xxoo

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Howdy everyone, how you doing? I have some super exciting news to share today yay! I am now a contributing artist over at Happy Spaces, a really fab company over in the UK that produce beautiful canvas wall-art for kids. They represent some artists whom I greatly admire, so I'm THRILLED to be jumping on board with them! You can check out my first three canvases here. I hope to start work on some more new designs over the Summer. Hooray! xo

Monday, December 20, 2010

Hello again! I've had a request or two for my sauce recipe from the below post - so here it is. It's from a FANTASTIC book called 'A Year In A Bottle' by Sally Wise. I'd highly recommend this book if you are into preserving, pickling or jamming fruits and veg.

Place all ingredients in a LARGE saucepan (I use a massive stock pot). Bring to boil and cook, stirring regularly for 4 hours (careful it doesn't stick to the bottom and burn). Strain mixture through a seive, colander or food mill and return to clean saucepan. Bring to boil and cook for 5 minutes.
Pour into warm sterilised bottles and seal immediately. Invert bottles briefly.
Consume at once or store in a cool, dry and dark place for up to 2 years.
I usually get about 11 or 12 x 300ml bottles out of this recipe.

** I sterilise my jars and bottles in the oven. First, wash your bottles with HOT soapy water, rinse and leave to dry. Place on a tray in cold oven. Turn oven to 110C (225F). When the oven has reached temperature, turn off the heat and leave bottles for 10 minutes. I also chuck the lids in the oven, otherwise you can simmer them in boiling water for 2 minutes and make sure they are dry before sealing.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

For as long as I can remember, my family have always given each other home-made gifts at Christmas. We've never much cared for extravagant gifts, preferring to have something that's been made with love! This year, I've made a couple of batches of tomato sauce (ketchup) for all my relatives. Summer is barbecue season, and you can't have a barbecue without sauce, right?! So here's the result of my efforts, and I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out! Do you get busy in your kitchen at Christmas time? What yummy things do you like to make?

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Hello all! How is your week going? Can't believe there's only one weekend left between now and Christmas... where has December gone?! Anyway, I'm here to let you all know you can now get your little mits on some of my art prints if you wish! I've just listed 'Mister Fox's New Hat' and 'Odette' in my Etsy store, they are limited editions of 20 each, hand signed and numbered and they come mounted in a nice white matte board.
You can also get my 'Field Trip Kids' series (six designs in all) via the lovely Lark shop. These are open-edition prints and do not come mounted. I do plan to add these to my Etsy store once I have more in stock. I'm planning to have some more prints happening in the new year - huzzah!
I hope all your Christmas preparations are coming along nicely, isn't it a mad time of year?! xoxoxo

Friday, December 10, 2010

Yay I received these samples in the post last week! A greeting card I designed for Papyrus a while ago... I love how they've put the glittery flitter on the yellow bits! And it's been printed on very lovely matte cardstock. I don't think it's available for purchase online yet but I'll let you know when :) Have an awesome Friday xo

Monday, December 6, 2010

Whoo it's hot and humid today! I've just pulled all my garlic out of the ground, ready to be hung and cured so it stores nicely all year. I had to pull it up a little early this year, as you can see, the bulbs aren't quite as big as they should be. All the torrential rain we've had recently has bent the garlic foliage right over, and they've started dying off already... so unfortunately we have small-medium bulbs this year, but it's still enough garlic to last us the whole year through, and some left over for xmas presents yay! Hope your Monday is going ace :)

Friday, December 3, 2010

Hey there friends! Just a quick stop today to let you know about some FREE printable holiday gift tags you can download over at our group blog, We Love To Illustrate. Pictured above are mine, but please swing by We Love To Illustrate and check out the other GORGEOUS designs by Nina, Julissa, Jennifer, Cally and Shirley... these girls create the most unreal illustrations, and I can guarantee you'll find some free gift tags that you'll fall in love with! Happy Friday, and happy downloading! xoxo